Part 2 of a two-part series: “Video surveillance in restaurants: Who’s using what technology and why”
Evolving video surveillance technology has given many restaurant companies better options when they attempt to match their needs with available hardware, software and services.
Some companies, among them 371-unit chicken chain El Pollo Loco of Irvine, Calif. and a number of McDonald’s franchisees, are deploying interactive systems that enable voice communication between employees and remote monitoring centers and feature remote, third-party equipment-auditing capabilities.
For other firms, the technology of choice comprises systems that are integrated with a variety of applications and, in some cases, are centrally managed through a Web interface and offered through hosted subscription services. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. of Denver, which operates about 600 fast-casual Mexican eateries, ranks among operators that fall into this category, as do certain Subway and IHOP franchisees.
“Remote, third-party monitoring, with and without the interactive component, gives us an unprecedented level of security and overall control,” said Michael Simmons, El Pollo Loco’s director of risk management. Two different iterations of that system, iVR from Westec InterActive of West Des Moines, Iowa, are being installed in 105 of the chain’s 155 company-owned stores.
Simmons said El Pollo Loco’s desire to enhance all-around control of its units was the impetus for replacing what he deemed “obsolete perimeter systems and outdated VCR and multiplexer technology” with more sophisticated equipment. To justify the upgrade, the operator assigned each unit a threat level score reflective of national crime statistics. Thirty stores were designated as high-threat or “A” locations, 75 as medium-threat or “B” locations and the remainder as low-threat or “C” locations.
Each tier was assigned a specific security package to address its level. Along with perimeter alarms and motion sensors, iVR systems comprising digital video recorders, or DVRs, surveillance cameras and two-way microphones were installed in A stores, while only DVRs and cameras were deployed in B stores.
Both A and B stores are equipped with iVR cameras inside and outside, with the former having as many as 12 to 14 per unit. Images captured by the cameras are recorded by the DVR. A broadband Internet connection links both the video surveillance equipment and alarms to an automatic-monitoring system at Westec headquarters that tracks their status and displays images captured by the cameras. Westec personnel also utilize the connection to conduct two monthly remote “walk-throughs” of each store to check for potential problems and hazards, such as doors left unlocked or ajar when they should be secured.
Additionally, the system includes silent “panic buttons” employees can push to inform Westec should an incident occur or if they suspect one is in the works and they prefer not to use the microphones. A-level stores have voice-down capabilities, so that Westec personnel can, when signaled by the panic buttons, communicate via microphone with suspects or perpetrators in the event of a robbery or similar situation.
DVRs in individual El Pollo Loco units are also preset for digital-recording modes, which vary from store to store and include 24-hour recording, recording specific events, such as camera motion detection, HVAC abnormalities and alarm-triggering.
Simmons was unable to quantify the direct savings gleaned from the intelligent system, whose cost Jon Bolen, Westec’s chief operating officer, pegged at about $10,000 per store for a setup with five to nine cameras and the DVR. The exact price varies depending on the client chain’s size. Apart from the hardware costs, the Westec service includes a monitoring fee that averages $250 to $270 per store, per month, Bolen added.
EPL’s Simmons noted that the Westec deployment yields benefits El Pollo Loco was unable to reap from its old technology and would not be experiencing had it instead hired armed guards as it had once considered doing.
“Burglary-related losses are on the decline due to the obvious security system changes in the stores,” Simmons said. “In several cases voice-down communications triggered by alarms and panic buttons have averted incidents because [perpetrators] were scared away after being addressed by someone at the monitoring station. Because of incident-triggered recording, we have seen a positive downward trend in robbery-related employee claims for benefits. And we now know when [alarms in] every store are set as required and whether units’ [surveillance and alarm] equipment is functioning, as it should. This was not the case before, and we did have some losses because of it.”
Westec is currently adding a Google Maps interface to its system to afford personnel at its central location aerial views of both sites being monitored as well as surrounding areas.
John Snowberger, owner of eight McDonald’s franchised restaurants in and around Roswell, N.M., is sold on iVR’s voice-down feature.
The restaurateur said his spaceship-style McDonald’s on Roswell’s main drag attracts young “cruisers,” who use its parking lot as a “turnaround” and gathering spot. Viewing such assemblages as a safety challenge, he said he sees iVR’s voice-down capability as “a good alternative” to asking employees to put themselves at risk by attempting to disperse unwieldy crowds.
Not long ago, Snowberger’s Roswell restaurant crew used one of the in-store panic buttons to get Westec’s help in shooing away an unusually large parking lot contingent.
“The [Westec] intervention specialist noted individuals by their clothing, which surprised them, but they didn’t leave, even after a second warning,” Snowberger said. “The specialist then called the police, who wrote complaints for the individuals involved. The crowd dispersed and most importantly, employees did not have to confront those individuals.”
Chipotle Mexican Grill executives were attracted to new-wave video surveillance based on its potential to yield enhanced overall control of all stores, said Monty Moran, the company’s president and chief operating officer. The chain recently commenced a rollout of the Envysion Video system by Denver-based Envysion Inc.
Surveillance cameras and DVRs are being installed in Chipotle stores at a rate of several dozen per week. Most units will have the equipment up and running by the fourth quarter of this year, according to parties involved in the deployment.
Moran and his colleagues wanted to allow loss prevention and other supervisory personnel to monitor stores remotely, but preferred not to compel them to “sit in front of DVRs or load software onto remote computers” in order to do so. Envysion Video uploads images captured at remotes sites, such as restaurants, to the vendor’s server and makes them accessible on a password-protected Web site; thus Chipotle leaders deemed Envysion a good fit.
Chipotle has begun to utilize the application to view both live and recorded video of its operations.
“The Envysion system will help us create a better environment” in stores, Moran said, explaining that such improvements will initially be tied to security because all activities are recorded. Later on, he added, operations and customer service practices are expected to benefit from observations made using the system, with improvements possibly touching on such things as best practices at the point of sale.
In the future, Chipotle’s Envysion configuration may be modified to include interfaces with the POS system to permit remote monitoring of transaction processing, sources at the chain said.
According to Envysion, the subscription rate for its video service starts at $50 to $75 per month for chains with a relatively small number of sites and can reach $150 per month for larger chains. Hardware costs and installation fees are not included in the monthly service fees, the vendor indicated.